Ohio State Even Surprises Coach

With 13th-ranked Ohio State trailing No. 19 St. John’s by 10 points with 2:48 to play Saturday at Madison Square Garden, even Buckeye Coach Jim O’Brien thought the Red Storm had the victory locked up.

“Privately, I didn’t think we could do it,” said O’Brien. “I thought it was one of those games where we just couldn’t get anything done.”

One of those games turned into a 65-64 Ohio State victory, however, as the Buckeyes scored the final 11 points and blocked two shots in the waning seconds.

“For 38 minutes we had no right winning the game and for the last two we had every right,” said O’Brien. “This was not one of our better performances, but the kids refused to fold up and go away.”

Ohio State (13-3) trailed 64-54 with 2:48 left after St. John’s Bootsy Thornton, who had a game-high 28 points, made a three-point shot.

Michael Redd then scored nine of his 15 points--including a three-pointer with 1:15 left--to pull the Buckeyes within 64-63. The Red Storm, which had turnovers on its previous three possessions, then missed three shots before Ohio State got a rebound with 34 seconds. Scoonie Penn drew a foul and made two free throws with 23 seconds left to give the Buckeyes the lead.

Then with four seconds left, Anthony Glover’s shot was blocked by Ken Johnson, the nation’s leading shot-blocker at five a game who finished with a school-record 11. The ball bounced free and Erick Barkley had his shot blocked by fellow point-guard Penn as time expired.

“What happened was we allowed Ohio State to hang around and be in a position for players like Redd and Penn to do what they do best,” said St. John’s Coach Mike Jarvis, whose team is 12-4. “We paid the price for not taking care of the ball when we had to.”

In last year’s NCAA tournament game between the schools in Knoxville, Tenn., Barkley lost control of the ball as time was running out, allowing Ohio State to win 77-74 and advance to the Final Four.

Ohio State players and coaches acted as if Saturday’s victory came in the NCAA tournament, running onto the court to celebrate and jumping in a circle for a while.

“This game wasn’t to that level,” O’Brien said. ‘This was just the euphoria of a win on national television, at a place like Madison Square Garden and over one of the best teams in the country.”

Mississippi 79, No. 4 Auburn 77--The Tigers (16-2, 4-1 in the Southeastern Conference) had their win streak ended at 14 as Chris Porter missed a desperation shot at the buzzer in the overtime game at Oxford, Miss.

Lataryl Williams’ put back with 38 seconds left gave Mississippi (13-6, 1-5) a 76-75 lead with 38 seconds left and, after Auburn’s Scott Pohlman was called for traveling with nine seconds, Jason Flanigan made two free throws. The Rebels conceded a layup to Mamadou N’diaye with 1.4 seconds and closed out the scoring with a Emmanuel Wade free throw.

No. 5 Duke 75, Wake Forest 61--Freshman guard Jason Williams made eight of 10 shots and scored 19 points at Winston-Salem, N.C., to lead the Blue Devils (15-2, 6-0) to an Atlantic Coast Conference record 28th regular-season win in a row. The victory was also the 1,600th for Duke--a total that has also been reached by Kentucky, Kansas and North Carolina and Kansas as the only schools with that many.

All five starters scored in double figures for Duke, which has defeated Wake Forest (11-7, 2-4) five games in a row.

Missouri 81, No. 7 Kansas 59--Sophomore guard Clarence Gilbert made seven of 10 three-point shots and had a career-high 27 points before sitting out the final six minutes with a sprained ankle as the Tigers (11-6, 4-1 in the Big 12) defeated a ranked Jayhawk team at Columbia, Mo., for the fourth consecutive time.

Missouri beat Kansas seven times in the 1990s when the Jayhawks were ranked in the top five, including three times when they were No. 1. Kansas (15-3, 4-1) came into this game with a seven-game win streak, and had held four of its five previous opponents to sub-40% shooting. Missouri shot 55%.

No. 8 Connecticut 92, Georgetown 71--Khalid El-Amin, held without a field goal in the first half, scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the defending national champion Huskies (13-3, 2-2 in the Big East) past the Hoyas (10-7, 2-4) at Washington.

Connecticut, which is unbeaten on the road but winless at home in the Big East, plays unbeaten No. 6 Syracuse Monday at the Carrier Dome. The Huskies have won a conference-record 13 consecutive road games.

“Maybe the secret to us is just don’t go back to Connecticut,” said Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun, whose team shot 25 more free throws and outscored Georgetown 38-15 from the line.

No. 9 Florida 77, Alabama 73--Mike Miller had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead the Gators (14-3, 3-2 in the SEC) to their first victory at Tuscaloosa, Ala., since 1970. Florida also won consecutive road games for the first time in five years.

Ray Grizzard led Alabama (9-8, 2-3) had 26 points--five more than he had in the previous five games--and 10 rebounds.

No. 10 Michigan State 69, Northwestern 45--The Spartans (13-5, 4-1) took a 14-0 lead at East Lansing, Mich., as the Wildcats (4-10, 0-5) missed their first 11 shots. Michigan State has won 22 consecutive home games.

“I think they have a better chance of beating us 10 in a row than we have of beating them once in 10 games,” said Northwestern Coach Kevin O’Neill, whose team plays Michigan State again Thursday.

Purdue 83, No. 11 Indiana 77--Jaraan Cornell, in scoring 25 points, made six of 11 three-point shots--including an off-balance attempt that banked and gave the Boilermakers (13-5, 4-1 in the Big Ten) the lead for good with four minutes left at West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue is tied for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan State and Ohio State.

A.J. Guyton had 27 points for Indiana (14-3, 3-2). The Hoosiers shot 56%, but the Boilermakers overcame that with the help of a 19-10 offensive rebounding advantage.

Indiana has lost eight of the past 10 games in one of college basketball’s most heated rivalries, and the Mackey Arena crowd repeatedly taunted Indiana Coach Bob Knight. Several dozen fans in one student section wore bright orange hunting vests and caps, with one holding a sign, “Don’t shoot, Bobby, we are unarmed,” referring to an October incident when Knight accidentally shot a hunting partner.

Texas A&M; 64, No. 12 Oklahoma State 59--The Aggies (6-10, 2-3) defeated a nationally ranked team for the first time in 30 games and 13 years in holding the Cowboys (14-2, 3-1) to four points in the final five minutes at College Station, Texas.

Bernard King, selected as the top high school player in Louisiana last season, had 17 points, including a decisive two free throws with nine seconds left.

No. 14 Texas 72, Texas Tech 59--Chris Mihm had 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Longhorns (12-5, 4-1 in the Big 12) at Lubbock, Texas.

Texas Tech, with 6-10 Andy Ellis sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury, used three players at 6-7 or less to guard the 7-foot Mihm.

No. 15 Tulsa 100, Hawaii 78--Brandon Kurtz had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Eric Coley had 14 points and 11 rebounds at Tulsa, Okla., as the Golden Hurricane (18-1, 4-0 in the Western Athletic Conference) won its 11th in a row.

Hawaii (13-5, 2-3) had 21 turnovers.

No. 17 Oklahoma 80, Iowa State 75--Eduardo Najera scored seven of his 25 points in the second overtime, and Tim Heskett had two three-point baskets for the Sooners (15-3, 3-2 in the Big 12) at Norman, Okla. Najera also had 14 rebounds and Heskett had 18 points on six-of-eight three-point shooting.

Iowa State (16-3, 4-1) came into the game with a school-record 13-game winning streak. The Cyclones, after scoring a season-low 19 points in the first half, erased a 14-point deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes of regulation.

No. 18 Kentucky 81, No. 20 Vanderbilt 73--The Wildcats (13-5, 4-1) made seven more three-point baskets than the Commodores (12-3, 3-2) in an overtime game at Nashville. Kentucky, which has struggled with its perimeter shooting this season, was 12 for 27 while Vanderbilt--usually among the national leaders in three-point shooting percentage--was five for 27.

Jamaal Magloire had 23 points, 15 rebounds and two of Kentucky’s eight blocked shots. The Wildcats have 108 blocked shots for the season to 29 by their opponents.

Vanderbilt’s Dan Langhi, the SEC’s leading scorer at 22.6 points a game, had 15 points.

Florida State 76, No. 21 North Carolina 71--The loss at Chapel Hill, N.C., was the fourth in a row for the Tar Heels (11-8, 2-3 in the ACC)--their longest streak without a victory since February 1992.

Damous Anderson scored a career-high 25 points for Florida State (8-8, 3-2), and Ron Hale had 17, including the go-ahead basket with 1:06 left.

No. 22 Utah 69, Wyoming 61--The Utes (14-3, 3-0 in the Mountain West Conference) overcame their worst-shooting game of the season--39%--in defeating the Cowboys (11-8, 1-3) at Salt Lake City and extending the nation’s longest active home-court win streak to 46.

Utah’s Alex Jensen had 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Saint Louis 75, No. 23 DePaul 69--Guard Justin Love scored 10 of his 18 points in overtime as the Billikens (10-7, 2-3 in Conference USA) defeated the Blue Demons (12-6, 3-3) in overtime at Rosemont, Ill.

DePaul had 13 turnovers in trailing 30-23 at halftime, then shot only 33% in the second half.

No. 24 Maryland 74, Clemson 62--Freshman forward Tahj Holden had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in his first start for the Terrapins (13-5, 2-3) in the ACC game at College Park, Md. Holden was replacing No. 2 scorer Terence Morris, who didn’t play for the first time in 84 games because of sprained ankle.

Clemson (6-12, 0-5) shot 30% in losing its sixth consecutive game.

OTHER GAMES

Miami (11-7, 4-2 in the Big East) was a 62-54 winner over Boston College (9-8, 1-4) in a game that was moved from Miami to nearby American Airlines Area, home of the NBA’s Heat, only hours before the scheduled tip-off because of a broken water line. . . . Freshman forward Brian Cook, playing in place of the injured Marcus Griffin, had 20 points in his first collegiate start for Illinois (10-6, 2-3) in an 87-76 victory over Penn State (11-6, 3-3) at Champaign, Ill. Griffin, the Illini’s second-leading scorer (12.7 points a game) and top rebounder (6.1), is expected to be sidelined as long as six weeks with a knee injury. . . . Richie Frahm scored 31 points for Gonzaga (14-5, 4-0 in the West Coast Conference) in an 84-79 overtime victory over San Diego (11-6, 2-2). Frahm moved past John Stockton into 10th place on Gonzaga’s career scoring list with 1,366 points. San Diego missed three shots in the final eight seconds of regulation.